F is for food - Mike

So me and my housemate Matt came up with an idea today. The idea is to eat only food that starts with the letter "a" for a day. Then the next day eat only food that starts with the letter "b" and so on and so on for 26 days in total.

We predict this will be easy at first, but may hit some roadblocks by the 24th day in particular. In order to combat this, we may be allowing ourselves a little creativity in the names of certain foods. So whilst any cheese can be eaten on the third day, stinking bishop in particular can be eaten on the "s" day. And for the 24th day in particular it has been decided that xenomorphs count in the form of mis-shapen cookies and the such so on no paricular day do we have to eat nothing.

This will be a horrowing and perhaps humorous tale. A journey of the self as well as food and as such I've decided to document it day by day, if it goes ahead.

We'll try and keep you informed in the planning stage,
- Mike

Piss and Shit - Mike

Consider the four human bodily processes of Eating, Drinking, Pissing and Shitting. Each works as a verb demonstrating an action is taking place. They also work as nouns as in this case: food, drink, piss and shit.

But what about the adjectives that show desire to carry out the actions?
You can be hungry and you can be thirsty, but what single words are for the feeling of needing a piss or shit? Sure there are words with connetations such as brewing, bloated and bursting but nothing that clearly and definitively means "I could well do for a piss," or "Christ on a bike if you don't get out of my way I'm going to shit. Soon."

So then, an alternative? Pissy means something else, as does shitty so both of those are out. We need new words in order to save time when pushing past people on the way to the toilet. After all, isn't that what life is truely about?

I propose that the funniest two appropriate yet nonsensical word verifications to be submitted should be considered being introduced. All you have to do is reply and you'll know what to do.

My first one is "kiess". No good.

Next,
- Mike

Proposed Song Order - Alex

Okay, I've had a fiddle with Mike's list, feedback is smacky good:

1.Tell Me Ma
2.Boys Who Left The Band
3.Weigh Anchor
4.Curse the London City Gent
5.Steve The Twat
6.Auld Triangle
7.Cumberland Crew
8.Sideways Up The Rubber Sprocket
9.Old Boys' State
10.Last Blackwall
11.Old Jack
12.Drunken Sailor

Tell me ma - I'll be very happy with this as a first track - once we've had time with aled in the studio.

Weigh Anchor is a big ballsy one, I like that near the beginning.

gent-steve-triangle is a nice little package I think, means steve is earlier in the album so the run up to the end of the album can be more unbrokenly exciting.

Crew and Blackwall are still next to each other, which I think may be a problem. I want the toms in both of those to sound very large and probably similar (though in crew there'll be lots more reverb I suppose). Do you think swopping Anchor and Blackwall would work?


Song Titles ?
Just realised we have no standard way of writing most of our songs - I like a mixture of the first, second and third I've written for each; more feedback!


"Tell Me Ma" / "I'll Tell Me Ma" / "Ma"

"Boys Who Left The Band" / "The Boys Who Left The Band" / "Boys"

"Curse The London City Gent" / "The Curse of The London City Gent" / "City Gent"

"Auld Triangle" / "The Auld Triangle"

"Cumberland Crew" / "The Cumberland's Crew" / "The Cumberland Crew"

"Last Blackwall" / "The Last Blackwall"

"Old Boys State" / "Old Boys' State" / "Old Boy's State" / "State"

"Old Jack" / "Shitbounce" / "Cock In Your Eye"

"Drunken Sailor" / "What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor?" / "Sailor"

Proposed Song Order - Mike

So since now we've got a first preliminary mix of all the songs, I bashed out a steamy load of proposed album order. Feedback is tasty.

1. Tell Me Ma
2. Boys Who Left The Band
3. Curse The London City Gent
4. Auld Triangle
5. Weigh Anchor
6. Cumberland Crew
7. Last Blackwall
8. Old Boys State
9. Steve The Twat
10. Sideways Up The Rubber Sprocket
11. Old Jack
12. Drunken Sailor

This was especially difficult because we have three songs that start with variations on "old" which couldn't be grouped together, and a difficult choice for the first song. I've always been against putting Tell Me Ma first, but I think it is genuinly the best choice out of the songs we have.

I've also tried to listen as much as possible to which songs "feel" like early or late songs, with the middle being the hardest to judge.

I'm giving it a listen as we speak, so I'll definately change it later.

- Mike

Horses and Album Art

At the weekend Smokey Bastard consumed two entire horses - one in Cardiff Student Union (supporting the mincing Mental Image) and one at the very accommodating Royal Oak in Bath, supported by the truly fantastic The Clap.

No but actually, go listen to these boys, brap brap etc.

It was a shitty weekend to drive the nearly five hundred miles I covered but it was great to get everyone together again. We turned up at a rehearsal studio in Cardiff and bought most of our instruments from the bewildered old man there before mostly playing metal/end-of-film-rock versions of our own songs all afternoon. I personally left a tiny bit of wee on the drum stool from laughing so much all afternoon.

We then had a great turn-out in Cardiff Uni, especially considering it's so far away from our nominal base, and bearing in mind that it was in Fuckingwales, which is a pretty hopeless start to almost anything. I've got some pictures on film (so they'll be ages) of some larks, some blood and a chinese set list on Pat's arm, and we collectively ingested a fair old amount of free beer.

Those who had the time to chill out on saturday then, as far as I can gather from Macca, played earthworm jim on the megadrive for possibly longer than a night and a day, sitting in their own filth very happily.

We went acoustic for the Bath gig and the gloriously free bar helped that one to be gloriously shambolic, but we sold a fair old stack of the old CDs so we had petrol to get home, and we also had some good time to discuss the album; what we want out of it and when and what to call it and all that stuff:

ALBUM ARTWORK WORK.

Ok, there's some cash in it for whomever's album artwork we use on our upcoming album, but we don't know what it'll look like yet.

We recon we'll try and settle on our favourite four or five album titles, and then we'd like to invite anyone who's interested (and especially a few people we've got in mind, but we're very open to input) to rub one out to go with one or several of the titles, and then whichever artwork is best will probably decide which title we use. Watch this space for more information on this one. The only title we're so far agreed on seems to be 'Propping Up The Floor' but there are definitely others on the shortlist.

"NOW That's What I Call Shitfisted!"

p.s. A google image search for 'shit fisted' was never going to be pretty (you have been warned this is gross and explicit), but check out item number five! I wonder if we should use more porn buzzwords as themes when we record in future, to up our hit count...

Limbo - Mike

So here we are in this perpetual limbo. Repeatedly reminded that a preview of the album will be ready soon, yet also painfully aware that except for a few far away gigs, very little is on the plate. And I am hungry. I could eat a horse. A massive gig horse. Num num num.

So I really want to start getting our stuff out there in order to get these colossal horses of gigs, yet I feel the EP is outdated. It doesn't really relate our current standard of playing or professionalism, which I hope will be demonstrated more accurately with the first few previews of the album. I know I could put the effort in and try and get gigs with the old EP or even with only my throbbing bravado, but it's easier to wait and hope. So I wait and hope. I wait and hope for this magic event, and I don't get us any more horses. One day it will happen, and on that day we will eat and we will eat well.

I'm also very aware that since most of the band live far away, gigs are only really worth playing if a) it's a super sweet gig with loads of new people who will perchance love us or b) it pays enough to cover travel costs. These are harder to find, especially without an album. IT IS A PARADOX THAT AFFECTS US ALL.

In brighter news Cardiff tomorrow, then Bath on Sunday. Woo. See you all there.

Piss piss moan, piss moan moan,
- Mike

P.S. Everyone should be watching Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe if they aren't already.

Album titles

So rather than complaining about how the album still doesn't have a name, I decided to write a list of suggestions. I'm also on Carrie's computer so this is the easiest method of keeping a record of everything I write.

The list so far:

Smokey Bastard
The Smokey Bastard sing-a-long song book for kids (you know, for kids)
Young and Teeth

My suggestions (in the order in which they occured to me):

It's time for a pint
Time for a pint
Sit down, shut up, drink and listen
Fuck you for asking
A collection of folk punk songs mostly about old people written by young people
Drinking 'til dawn
Whiskey bullets
Drinking in the devil's bar
The old rose
I can quit any time
Raucous youth
Pub-rawl convoy
Get it down you
Midnight singsongs
Moonshine dreams
So it was me, Mr. T and Hulk Hogan...
Liquid cheer
Milk bottle full of Guinness
Propping up the floor
Hungover discoveries
Let's go get drunk in the fort


My favourite so far are "Propping up the floor" and "Let's go get drunk in the fort".

More to come?
- Mike

Oh yeah...

I HEARD SOME BLACK DUDE HAS WON SOME KIND OF AWARD OR SOMETHING?

Choice Chambers

So as I sat, depressingly alone while my housemates partied the night away, watching Dimbleby ramble on desperately trying to fill the six hour election night he had ahead of him, my mate Dre came in and began to change the channel.

I objected, horrified, but my worry was misplaced.

It was at this point I was introduced to CNN, and I would like to take a minute to list several reasons why CNN's coverage kicked the BBC's election night mumbling session's sorry arse.

1: The Drums

The first thing to strike me was the epic drums used to introduce every single thing that the CNN politics crew (The Worlds Greatest Political News Team as a sign in the background informed me) had to throw at me. It went on for ages. It was like the intro to Brass Eye.


2: The Presenters

They were called Wolf Blitzer and Anderton Cooper.

Wolf Blitzer..................David Dimbleby

Wolf Blitzer..................David Dimbleby

Wolf Blitzer..................David Dimbleby

Need I say more.


3: The Claims

The Worlds Greatest Political News Team was not the only claim adorning the back wall of the studio. As if that wasn't reassuring enough, my eyes were treated to huge, metallic lettering reading:


CNN = Politics

Amazing.


but nothing compared to...

4. HOLOGRAMS?

That's right. CNN provided me with an exclusive interview with Will.I.Am of Black Eyed Peas fame...........via Hologram

Seriously. You Guys.

The presenter actually interviewed empty space and they overlayed a floating image of Will.I.Am of Black Eyed Peas fame.

They even made him a bit fuzzy and slowed down the frame-rate to make it look like the technology wasn't quite perfect. Y'know...for realism


That, my friends, is television.
The BBC need to buck up their ideas.

Seriously.

You Guys.

Chris.

Puppy In Whitehouse

Well thank heavens for all that.

-Alex

Autumn Update

Hello all!

Wordy one, this time...

Today I feel like it's Christmas already, because: my whole family is home for my birthday this weekend, we had a full on inch and a bit of snow at the end of last week, the heating is on in the house and we're doing a trial run christmas dinner on sunday to prototype the stuffing and chipolatas and bacon asparagus and cranberry bread sauce and the whole house smells delicious already!

But it's not christmas yet - in fact last night was Hallowe'en. Smokey Bastard didn't play a gig unfortunately, since our internal communications broke down a bit when we were offered two seperate gigs for that night and nothing happened - but I made a little pumpkin with candles in and tried to learn how to play blues on the piano with my girlfriend instead, how punk is that?

As it happens, the last time Smokey B got together it was more like easter than Christmas or Hallowe'en, with glorious sunshine and probably our last chance to rehearse outside in Tony's Christmas...veranda? (Some of you may recognise the Christmas room (of not-yet-surfaced live video "fame") with a couple of walls missing - this is Tony Ness's ingeniousness in action, and a good place for acoustic practice).

This reheasal was for a short notice gig mid october at the Eldon Arms where SOPHIE reappeared from France unexpectedly early which was super. We had a lovely time and are gaining quite a soft spot for the Eldon crowd and crew - actually I wonder if it might be a good spot for some occasional sessions? I've been meaning to set someting like that up for ages in Reading, any thoughts anybody?

Unfortunately we didn't manage to pull an appearance from a rather important man from a rather important festival, but we'll keep talking to him and see what we can do in the future...

Back to the present day, Mike and I (and team of about ten other folks) were in Camden on the 30th for Bellowhead's gig at Koko which was absolutely brilliant fun, the brass section visibly plastered and the whole lot of them indulging in a lot of unpretentious japery - by the end of the gig they were all playing kazoos, the sax player had his jacket on inside out to dance like elvis and the bouzouki player was shredding through a wah pedal - so much to see and hear, awesome! We decided their first album doesn't do them justice - my LP of the new album arrives on Sunday for my birthday, here's hoping it's more successful.

Has anyone seen a folk crowdsurf before? The Bellowhead sax player might well have won the prize for the first one ever...

AND FINALLY, in Smokey Bastard Album news:

-No title

-No tracklist

-No artwork

-No music

(Still not quite finished the last of Sophie's fiddle lines from before she went to Fr, and no rough mix from Aled yet cos he's a jolly busy fourth year, but we're waiting with baited breath for an unmixed mixdown any day now!)

Bam!

-Alex

p.s. I know I said 'finally' before, but this guy supported Bellowhead and he's rather good, though admittedly morose. Have a listen, and see if you agree that he should play a banjo sometimes: Sam John Carter

Well Qualified for The Position

This is a special Smokey Bastard announcement.

Let's all join hands and wish Mr. Wood (of Smokey Bastard bass and vocals) lots of luck getting funding for his PhD, because there's lots of competition and we all want the best for him in his career. We know this is a big deal and we're taking you seriously, big man.

We're all doomed!

At some point they had to write down ON PAPER the process of MAKING PAPER. This is centuries old self perpetuating technology! The end may have already begun...

- Mike

Bellowhead Bellowsession

I keep forgetting to say: Pat and I went to London's South Bank on September 21st where there was a huge food festival going on around the Festival Hall to join in with a session with the most impressive Bellowhead, where I had a chance to chat with Andy the trumpet player at some length (mostly complaining about how hard it is to pick up their stab-filled brass lines) and even catch a few moments of their rehearsal as they let us leave our instruments in their room at the Festival Hall.

Pat was rocking the flute for portability reasons, and I was playing trumpet or bodhran depending on whether the key was manageable for improv - and we brought along a few friends for the party including the folkier-by-the-day Rachel Marshall on clarinet and swooning duty.

I had the wonderful opportunity to spend a couple of minutes chatting with every single member of bellowhead as I put one of our demos into each of their talented mitts, so I hope one or two of them listened to it.




I also kept saying 'hopefully see you on the festivals circuit next year'. Ahem. Well, you never know, right? Perhaps on the strength of the new album!

And I gave a CD to a youngish man who wanted to start a morris dancing troupe in Reading and was thinking that Smokey Bastard could be his band, or he could maybe come do some one-man-morris at some of our gigs. Stangely enough having had an opportunity to listen to our CD I don't think he's tried to contact us - I wonder why ever not?

Vaguely on this note, just because I enjoy splashing bands about here are some groups and bands I am currently enjoying, both old discoveries and new

Bellowhead (Old favourites: always a good sign when 'plays' outnumber 'profile views' on myspace. going to see them at Koko on the 30th!)

Let's Tea Party (something of a wild card, saw them play with Portland Rise last weekend)

The High Kings (These guys are a bit too slick and moneyspinning, but their 'Rocky Road To Dublin' is by far the best I've heard it done, heard it on Radio 2's wednesday evening folk program)

Terrafolk (These guys are utterly, utterly spectacular live but a bit so-so on these recordings, nonetheless you can not afford to miss their surreal version of 'You Are My Sunshine')

Bad Science (These guys have been in my top five for years and probably will be for a long time, might try and get to see them at the Southampton Soul Cellar on the 28th.)

Rachel Unthank and the Winterset (Thanks to Rachel Garforth for this one, wide eyed child winter folk, can't decide about the music on the myspace really, but it's intriguing - and if you can find 'Blue's Gaen Oot O'the Fashion' anywhere, it's brilliant.)

Jackson Jackson (If you loved loved loved The Cat Empire like I did, don't assume you'll like their trumpet player/singer Harry's side project, which is brilliant but utterly different. Listen out for an unexpected folk traditional in 'Cats, Rats and Pidgeons'!)

Ed, Will and Ginger a-walking-o (Mike found this one and Carrie showed me, it's Coope, Boyes and Simpson - esque, but with a bit more youth and poshness to it)


-Alex

Fire unicycle

This is Pete from the Southampton University Circus Society. His unicycle is on fire. This may or may not be completely badass.

Plug over,
- Mike

What a fucking great idea.

Once upon a time I was reading the blog/street art diary of a guy named Poster Child. There was a post in particular that for some reason stuck in my mind although at the time I failed to act on it. It wasn't until recently that I decided to give it a go, although on the more personal domain of my own house.

The idea is as follows: Cut out a paper (or card) moustache that is preferably curly. Stick that to the front of your television. Laugh and make merry every time someone's face lines up with said moustache. Here are some pictures:



With the television turned off.



John Cleese match 01



John Cleese match 02

These are just some examples of the possible hilarity. Best played under the influence of alcohol and an abundance of like minded (inebriated) housemates.

The relevant Post

Enjoy?
- Mike

Recording

"A fortnight!" we said.

"No problems!" we said.

"Rhythm section in a week or less!" said we.

Smokey Bastard have been in the "studio" now for about two and a half weeks, and have completed:

Kit
Percussion
Bass
Electric guitars

Leaving us still yet to do:

Bodhran
Bouzouki
Mandolin
Banjo(?)
Accoustic Guitars
Fiddle
Whistles
Accordion
piano(?)
brass
harmonica
aaaaaall the vocals
and then be pissed for a day or so with the tape rolling for some atmosphere
(and I'm sure there's more)

Ahem

On the don't-care-much-that-it's-taking-a-while-really hand though, it's shaping up to sound pretty much like we've all been hoping; some of my personal favourite bits so far include:

backwards stuff
mad orchestral percussion stuff
hugely over-epic guitar sounds (12 channels per guitar line in some places)
the emergence of balls-to-the-wall shitfisted riotous high speed...folk...

But

Today, when starting to EQ some of our tracks, Aled (our engineer/mixer) asked me this question:

"Do you want it to kick you in the face, or punch you in the guts?"

Please note that there is no third option - whatever happens this record is going to injure you. Roll on week four!

Alex


P.s. we've got loads of footage to wack up here in the next few weeks, and we'll try to make that happen, so don't forget to watch this space...Both of you...

Babar Luck

Just a quick one.

The other night we played with Babar Luck at the Cross Kings in Kings Cross. It was awesome.

Alex decided during Babar's set that he wanted to pack up his kit and leave and, understandably, Babar did not take kindly to this. Subsequently, Alex got a telling off in front of everybody and I had a bit of a chuckle.



That's him telt.

Chris

A Return to Bastard Form

Yawn

I started writing my first blog in months last night at about seven o clock, and believe me I was writing with a wit, vim and fervour that would have knocked you off your seats! In fact, so full of energy was I, after the last few weeks of getting up at 6.30 every day to either go to work (photo, left) or take my sister to work and then four hours of SB rehearsals at Plug n Play yesterday, I fell asleep while typing and fell off my own chair, and then slept for 13 hours on my bedroom floor. With my head on a Mr Kipling lemon slice.

Yaaawn

This is literally the first thing I'm doing having woken up very confused and nibbling on lemon icing from my ear (photo, right), and I've got to get to another SB practice by eleven, via Drumwright. As a result, you're getting no wit, zero fervour, and the diametric opposite of vim (which is 'crust') as I race through what would assuredly have otherwise been a very measured and thoughtfully constructed blog entry:

We're going to record an album; the prospect of doing it with John Leckie and Barry Barlow is both closer and further from becoming reality but we're working hard to make it happen.

We've got some gigs, and seeing as we're often too lazy to ask anyone for them we need to get offered more - go to our myspace to listen and contact us.

Very soon we shall be announcing the exciting appearance of our Live in the Christmas Room Acoustic Album/DVD with a raft of new videos and clips online. Watch various online SB spaces, if not this one.

(Grumble) *Hack!* Cough

The other (and main) reason I'm bothering to do this again today (last night's offering was wiped when blogger timed out), EVEN with exceedingly good cake on my face, is that I would like very much for you to see our second video blog entry, which I chucked together yesterday. You'll notice that this time it was only filmed on a mobile phone, and is comprised of footage of a fairly limited genre of activity from our weekend away. This is because in a fairly friendly way we don't much give a shit about this blog, we're only doing it to make each other laugh. Noticed?!

It's too early for this, I'm going to get some juice

Our weekend, by the way, kicked good old english arse: first an appearance in Bath Folk and Ale Festival at the Royal Oak, followed by free bar all night, followd by camping illegally, followed by a six hour drive to Durham just to see Youngblood Brass Band, who absolutly fucking rocked, putting themselves easily in te top two of best bands I have ever seen live - only missing first place because the Durham crowd were a load of squares, kids and mums who stayed sat in their numbered seats applauding politely, and because their set was a slightly dissapointing hour long. Seriously, check these guys out - there is no better mix of genuine musicality and raw unfettered drive than Youngblood, and I hope somebody quotes me.

Temporary Setbacks...

Hey all. Time for a band update…

We have (mostly) returned from our respective uni towns and are once again ready to be in a shit hot celtic punk band. Exams are over and now nothing… well…. now only two things can stand in our way:

Thing in the way number one: Pat has chosen to blemish his impeccable record of unrelenting punctuality, reliability and enthusiasm by deciding on a whim to cycle around Germany, I assume for no other reason than to inflate his ego with regards to how “good” he is at cycling on a bike cycle.

The second problem is that I have paralyzed myself to such an extent that I currently have to be lowered into bed. Luckily it’s just a muscular back injury and will heal soon but while visiting the doctor I was also I informed I might have some sort of lanky disease which means you die from being tall or something… or at least in some cases it lowers your life expectancy but only if you’re some kind of nonce… I don’t know. Anyway I’m gonna find out on Thursday. Its called Marfan’s syndrome but I’ve already decided if I do have it, I’m calling it either Joey Ramone or Robert Johnson syndrome as they had it and it sounds better that way, but I doubt it will come to that…

We also have gigs soon so check the old myfacespace.com

- Matt